Wanda arrived from seemingly nowhere, (it seemed she'd found a way to travel instantaneously too) just as Scott came back out from his house after getting changed, and Loki and Wanda morphed into regular clothing. Stephen showed off by using a spell he'd learned that also allowed him to change his clothing to a regular outfit. The cloak was rather offended, but didn't fly away, just stuck by Wanda, floating alongside as though it were her bodyguard. Now the old grudge was gone, it looked like those two could be good friends.

Yes, the cloak was a friend. To say it wasn't his friend after all these years would make him a very bad cloak-handler.

The four of them didn't chat much along the half hour walk, and as they reached the top of the cliff, a group of people appeared, indistinct shadows under the moonlight, until Scott called, "Guess who's back?"

One of the smaller figures turned around and started running towards him. "Dad!" Cassie shouted, running straight into the hug without slowing down. When she let go, she smiled up at Stephen and Loki. "Hey Mr Stephen and Mr Loki." They waved in reply, and then her gaze turned to Wanda. "Um, hi..."

"Wanda," she replied, smiling softly. "I'm assuming you're Cassie? I've heard a lot about you."

"Dad, why are you constantly talking about me?" she complained, pouting at her dad. But she brightened up straight afterwards. "It's great to meet you, Miss Wanda!"

As she ran back to her family, Wanda turned to Scott, her grin so wide it nearly went to her ears. "She's so cute," she squeaked, and it was the most cheerful Stephen had ever heard her.

"I know she is," Scott squeaked back, then grabbed her by the wrist (nicely) and led her over to the others. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone. And don't worry, I'll make sure Hank and Hope don't bother you."

Stephen hung around with Scott and his family for a minute, but they were a little lively for how tired he was at the minute, so he sat down on the bench which Loki had retired to almost as soon as they'd arrived, some way along from where Scott's family were stood. He sat there in silence for a while, watching the waves below.

Wanda was really happy now, and she and Cassie were getting on like a house on fire, even though the rest of the family were a little wary of her. Scott was loving life. All that sleep while travelling certainly seemed to have kept his batteries charged. The cloak considered itself the life and soul of the party, obviously. But he just wanted to sit back and wait for the fireworks to start.

As did Loki, apparently, because he was just sitting next to him on the bench, and he didn't even appear to have acknowledged him. That was a sign he was deep in thought – oh yes, Stephen was getting good at figuring this un-figure-out-able god out.

"Do you celebrate New Year on Asgard?" Stephen asked, to start a conversation, notably jerking Loki from his thoughts.

"We celebrate new centuries," he replied, twisting his thumbs together awkwardly. "If we did every year, it would get somewhat boring."

"True, I suppose," Stephen nodded, looking back at the waves below. "I bet your fireworks were much more impressive than ours though."

"Strange," Loki said, as though deciding it would just be better to go ahead and say it.

"That's my name."

"You wanted to know what else it was I was worried about earlier," Loki said, and to be completely truthful, Stephen had entirely forgotten about that.

But he didn't want to spoil these 72 hours they had of rare freedom. "It can wait."

So Loki had not been expecting that. "Wait, really? You're sure?"

"Yep."

"Like, absolutely sure?"

"Yep."

"Even if I lied earlier and it's actually really important?"

"Yep."

"Like, really, really important?"

"Yep."

Loki was totally confused as hell, which Stephen honestly found quite funny, but he blinked and shrugged it off. "Alright then. If you're really sure."

"I am," he said, simply.

Another minute passed in silence. Loki apparently wasn't giving this up. "You're absolutely, totally, 300% sure, and you aren't going to change your mind?"

"Yes!" Stephen said, but Loki wasn't being serious this time, if that smile said anything. "Yes, I am absolutely, totally, 300% sure, and I am not going to change my mind."

"OK. Just making sure," Loki said, visibly relaxing into the bench, all the tension gone from him, crossing his boots over one another and putting his hands behind his head. "Now then. When do these fireworks start?"

Checking his phone, Stephen replied, "In five minutes."

After that, they fell into silence, but it really felt like conversation should have filled in the time. It was just that he wasn't sure what to say. Stephen slumped into the bench, his head falling back to look up at the sky.

Then, in totally unplanned unison, the two of them said, "Well, this is awkward."

Stephen looked over, as Loki did the same thing, smirking. He returned the smirk, and both of them let out a small chuckle. Why did they have a habit of doing this?

"Well, it is a little awkward," Loki shrugged. "The two of us. Alone on a bench. Far away from everyone else. Under the moonlight."

"Far away? Like twenty metres," Stephen scoffed, realising after he said it that it actually did seem like they were far away from everyone else. "But we don't think about each other in that way, do we?"

"No, no, of course not," Loki said, dropping his hands back into his lap. "Gosh, I hope you didn't actually think I... meant that?"

"Of course I didn't," Stephen answered, quickly. Not too quickly, he hoped.

They didn't speak until the first flash of light, and Cassie in the distance shouting, "Happy New Year everyone!"

The fireworks weren't as good as Loki's magic ones, but they were still impressive, for "mortal standards" in Loki's words. It was therapeutic to watch them – there was a set pattern, calm to start off with, leading up into a much more dramatic middle section. All colours you could think of, and even a few he'd never thought of. There was even an Avenger-y tribute thing, which was pretty cool – the red and gold shoots of fireworks represented Iron Man, the red, white and blue represented the various Captain Americas.

"How are they going to represent Scott, I wonder?" Loki mused, as they watched the red streaks light up the sky as Wanda's tribute (looked like the public still respected her then). "Make a little tiny firework? Fill a firework with ants so they shower everywhere?"

"Think that last one counts as ant abuse," Stephen pointed out, but sure enough, after Wanda's tribute, there was a round of miniature fireworks in various colours, which could only be for a certain tiny hero. Looking over to his side, Stephen smiled at Scott's jumping up and down as his family and Wanda cheered him.

"Well, I called it," Loki said, stifling a yawn. Stephen was yawning himself – the last week (oh crap, it really had been almost a week since Christmas) had been exhausting. "Ooh, look, I wonder who's tribute this one is?"

Intrigued, Stephen returned his eyes to the display, and his first reactions was... were the Kamar-Taj wizards doing that? But no, some incredibly smart person had managed to replicate what Eldritch magic looked like into a firework. He almost gasped at the sight of it. "It's... it's not one of your illusions, right?"

"No," Loki said, and even he seemed impressed. "And I don't believe it was Beyoncé either for some reason."

They settled back into quiet, watching the Avengers tributes end with a spectacular display that looked like lightning (for Thor, obviously) and then for the usual fireworks to take their place again. Stephen checked his phone, looking at the time. 00.01. "Happy 2024, Loki," he said, closing his eyes lightly and resting his head back against the bench.

"Happy 2024, Strange," Loki replied, before he heard him yawn again.

Another minute passed, and Stephen was enjoying the effect of the lights flashing against his closed eyelids when he felt something drop onto his shoulder. At first, he thought it might have been the cloak, coming to join him, but he realised this was a bit heavier than the cloak. Opening one eye curiously, Stephen moved his head very slightly to see a sight he was not expecting.

Loki had literally fallen asleep. On his shoulder.

Stephen blinked a few times, to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. But they weren't. He really had fallen asleep.

For a moment, he debated whether to wake him up. But then, when his hand was just about ready to shake him awake, Stephen thought better of it. Loki hadn't allowed himself to sleep in months – months! – so it was a mark of how incredibly tired he must be at the moment for him to actually have fallen asleep.

Hm, so it looked like this unshakable god did actually have an end to his willpower. He won the award for stubbornness, that was for sure.

He knew his willpower must have run out, because there was no way Loki would ever allow himself to fall asleep, never mind next to Stephen, and certainly not on his shoulder, in his usual state of mind. That led him to the conclusion he'd finally exhausted his enhanced limits. OK, this clearly wasn't a good sign about the guy's mental or physical wellbeing, but at least he was being forced to rest now. It was unfortunate it had taken all this time for him to get it, but it was better than never, right?

So he just relaxed his hand and dropped it back into his lap, leaving Loki where he was.

OK, so, chances were, Loki would likely kill him when he woke up for not waking him up. But he was willing to take those chances if he could help his friend out.

Even if he didn't know he was helping him out.

So Stephen closed his eyes lightly again and relaxed into the bench. OK, so it was initially a little awkward, but now it just seemed comforting. That's why he didn't try to wipe the smile that made its way onto his face without permission.

He wouldn't admit it, but this was a great start to the year.